2 Handbook of Chemoinformatics Algorithms
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Graphs are used as an efficient abstraction and approximation for diverse chemical
systems, such as chemical compounds, ensembles of molecules, molecular fragments,
polymers, chemical reactions, reaction mechanisms, and isomerization pathways.
Obviously, the complexity of chemical systems is significantly reduced whenever
they are modeled as graphs. For example, when a chemical compound is represented
as a molecular graph, the geometry information is neglected, and only the atom con-
nectivity information is retained. In order to be valuable, the graph representation of
a chemical system must retain all important features of the investigated system and
has to offer qualitative or quantitative conclusions in agreement with those provided
by more sophisticated methods. All chemical systems that are successfully modeled
as graphs have a common characteristic, namely they are composed of elements that
interact between them, and these interactions are instrumental in explaining a property
of interest of that chemical system. The elements in a system are represented as graph
vertices, and the interactions between these elements are represented as graph edges.
In a chemical graph, vertices may represent various elements of a chemical system,
such as atomic or molecular orbitals, electrons, atoms, groups of atoms, molecules,
and isomers. The interaction between these elements, which are represented as graph
edges, may be chemical bonds, nonbonded interactions, reaction steps, formal con-
nections between groups of atoms, or formal transformations of functional groups.
The chapter continues with an overview of elements of graph theory that are impor-
tant in chemoinformatics and in depicting two-dimensional (2D) chemical structures.
Section 1.3 presents the most important types of chemical and molecular graphs,
and Section 1.4 reviews the representation of molecules containing heteroatoms and
multiple bonds with weighted graphs and molecular matrices.
1.2 ELEMENTS OF GRAPH THEORY
This section presents the basic definitions, notations, and examples of graph theory
relevant to chemoinformatics. Graph theory applications in physics, electronics,
chemistry, biology, medicinal chemistry, economics, or information sciences are
mainly the effect of the seminal book Graph Theory of Harary [1]. Several other books
represent essential readings for an in-depth overview of the theoretical basis of graph
theory: Graphs and Hypergraphs by Berge [2]; Graphs and Digraphs by Behzad,
Chartrand, and Lesniak-Foster [3]; Distance in Graphs by Buckley and Harary [4];
Graph Theory Applications by Foulds [5]; Introduction to Graph Theory by West [6];
Graph Theory by Diestel [7]; and Topics in Algebraic Graph Theory by Beineke and
Wilson [8]. The spectral theory of graphs investigates the properties of the spectra
(eigenvalues) of graph matrices, and has applications in complex networks, spectral
embedding of multivariate data, graph drawing, calculation of topological indices,
topological quantum chemistry, and aromaticity. The major textbook in the spectral
theory of graphs is Spectra of Graphs. Theory and Applications by Cvetkovi´c, Doob,
and Sachs [9].An influential book on graph spectra applications in the quantum chem-
istry of conjugated systems and aromaticity is Topological Approach to the Chemistry
of Conjugated Molecules by Graovac, Gutman, and Trinajsti´c [10]. Advanced topics